How Mindfulness Transforms Workplaces

Challenges that Lead to Stress

Many organisations are currently faced with a range of challenges that put pressure on their front staff and management: unstable economic situation, increased global competition and the need to do ‘more for less’. Technological advances demand that employees digest an enormous amount of information in a short time. People can experience their work environment as an overwhelming and stressful place to be.

Latest figures from the Health and Safety Executive suggest that work-related stress costs the country over £530 million per year, equating to the loss of over 13 million working days. In the current difficult economic climate, as businesses work hard to recover after the recession, these figures look set to rise. Some of the common signs of high levels of stress in a team include:

arguments and disputes between staff

general absenteeism

an increase in grievances and complaints

greater staff turnover

Even thought we are technologically more connected than ever before, many of us are disconnected from ourselves, from our sense of calm and contentment, and feel fragmented, rather than whole. In such a highly pressurised environment we often resort to an automatic and less conscious mode of relating to ourselves and the world around us, and make choices based on the need to survive rather than thrive.

Some organisations respond to this challenge by offering their staff tools to deal with the external pressures – for example by teaching people how to manage their time better, streamline communication or offload their stress through a game of paintball.

Working with the Real Issue

Progressive businesses, however, turn their attention to the internal pressures, which often greatly contribute to stress – the thoughts and feelings employees experience when exposed to stressful situations. Mindfulness offers a way of re-training the mind to be more skilful in dealing with workplace challenges. When we are more mindful, and less on ‘autopilot’, we realise that we have options to respond skilfully when our ‘buttons are pressed’. We discover what in the midst of a stressful moment we can centre ourselves and tap into an inner stability and resilience.

Benefits of Mindfulness in the Workplace

Employees that are more skilled at working with their internal stress triggers will be ultimately more content, more focused and as a result, more productive. Mindful employees create mindful teams and successful organisations.

Mindfulness training improves relationships in teams, allows people to be more creative, more resilient and more attentive. As such, it offers a long-term benefit for the whole organisation and high return on investment.

A workplace where mindfulness skills are used should experience higher overall levels of employee well-being and resilience. Based on research statistics and on our experience in the field, here is a list of benefits an organisation might reasonably expect from a mindfulness training:

a reduction in employees’ levels of stress

an increase in their levels of emotional intelligence

increased productivity

increased interpersonal sensitivity and lower levels of impulsivity

higher levels of personal resilience

lower rates of health-related absenteeism

increased self-awareness

enhanced communication skills

increased concentration and attention span

a greater capacity to hold and work with information

improved sleeping patterns

lower levels of psychological distress, including depression and anxiety